The Ring
by KesseliaBanta
Summary: -Complete- An engagement ring (still in the box) is found on the office floor of JAG. When the owner is hunted out, three men look guilty, but nobody claims the ring.
1. The Spider

Summary: An engagement ring (still in the box) is found on the office floor of JAG. When the owner is hunted out, three men look guilty, but nobody claims the ring. 

_Update Note:_

_I just dusted off The Ring and started a reread. I laughed out loud at the first line. I completely forgot about the poor spider! It's so much fun when you can laugh at your own stuff. In the immortal words of Goose:  "Geez, I crack myself up."_

_I am sorry this took me so long to finish. The drama on the show got ahead of me and it has taken me a while to get back into JAG. It is as I kept saying: if Tiner goes OCS, I just can't bring myself to watch the show anymore. They have shunned the enlisted one too many times, and I'm gone._

_I finished Lord of the Rings and cleared the corkboard for the next project, which means I took down all the Hobbit  pictures (except for one particularly yummy Scot), and my most faithful reader, Jenny,  on cue, reminded me that I have a promise to keep here. So here I go again. This shouldn't take but a couple of days to complete and post._

_Keep in mind that I began this before the Admiral proposed to Meredith and I just can't bring my self to change it, so accept the Admiral/Meredith romance as it was for the near season finale of 2003, but that whole part about Harm resigning and Mac going for Webb? What were they thinking!???? Chuck all that from you mind._

_Thanks for being patient with me._

_Cassandra_

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JAG: "The Ring." by Kesselia Banta (Cass Eastham)

**JAG Headquarters. Falls Church, VA. April 2003**

There was a stowaway in the JAG office over the winter, but nobody noticed him until after he was dead. 

A tiny spider had crawled into the building from the cold and found a place to settle in for the winter. But the snow melted and the sun shone and, eventually, the air conditioner came back on. The spider was forced from its home in the vent to search out a new place to build its web when it strolled onto the JAG office floor in the middle of the night.

He explored the office for a few hours before deciding to find the quietest wall corner, and headed toward a likely wall when the lights came on and people walked in. 

The spider scurried into the nearest shadow, watched and waited. The smell of coffee filled the air more people came into the room. The noise level rose with television reports and voices. There were dozens of giant feet shuffling back and forth by the desk he was hiding under, but all the shoes were black.

It walked its eight little brown legs closer to the foot of the desk and watched the shiny dress shoes and shiny pumps step, shuffle, stop, turn… The spider got tired of waiting for them to leave. He got ready to make a dash across to the wood framed office door, and looked for an opportunity to make his break.

Another pair of black shoes stopped in front of the spider, they were big shoes with big black slacks drooping all the way to the shoelaces. The feet shuffled, paused, turned a little as a pair of pumps strutted by, and then started to move away again. 

Then the shoes bumped into another pair of shoes, paused again, and a dark blue velvet box fell to the ground. The fuzzy monolith bounced as it rolled. The spider didn't have time to get out of the way before the thing smashed him against the foot of the desk. He died a miserable death as the towering ring box fell to a stand still.

The shoes shuffled away, oblivious at the moment, but two month's pay stuffed into a little blue box was noticed missing in a matter of hours. A coat was frantically groped, then a car was searched thoroughly until the man pulled a jelly bean from _last_ Easter out from under the seat. 

It wasn't long until he realized he'd dropped it at work somewhere, but searching the office without being discovered would be a trick. It just felt kind of wrong to have everyone in the office know he was going to propose before he managed to pop the question. 

The next day, he managed to case the entire office floor with innocent strolls to talk to one person or the other without anybody noticing he was scanning for something. No luck. The velvet ring box was cuddled up so closely to the foot of the desk that nobody was going to see it unless he or she got down on all fours and looked. 

But, before the man narrowed in on how to manage such a strategy, a pencil fell onto the floor, bounced on its eroded eraser, and rolled with a rattle into the ring box. A pair of heals paused and a pair of hose-covered knees slowly lowered to the floor. A feminine hand groped under the desk to find it….

Petty Officer Tiner was more sobered these last few months and had easily been managing his duties without a stutter, a shuffle, or a fearful glance at anybody. He kept remembering the title of Tin Man, and every 'yes sir' and 'no sir' gave him more of a twinkle in his eyes than he was supposed to have. This only made him look guilty and he knew it. His thoughts wandered off as he stirred sugar into his coffee but he was shaken from them when Commander Rabb stepped into the tiny kitchen to pour his own.

"Good morning, Tiner."

"Good morning, sir."

Commander Rabb didn't look any more innocent these days than Tiner did. It called attention when he casually received the instruction to take the bad-tasting side of a case yesterday, but no one approached him about it. He made certain he was the same pain in the ass the Admiral was accustomed to, just so his boss wouldn't notice anything different about his performance. He poured milk into his coffee wondering if it was working, and wondering if it mattered. He glanced up when the man walked in, smiled as casually as he could muster, and stepped away.

"Good morning, Admiral."

"Good morning."

The Admiral's mouth was small and stiff when he poured the black coffee into his mug and turned around to walk out.

"Good morning, Tiner."

"Good morning, Admiral."

"EEEKS!" Harriett squealed, "A spider!"

All three men glanced up from their coffee to see the woman jump back in a moment of girl-ness and then grit her teeth to stomp on the already dead spider like a true soldier.

After she recovered from her small battle, she turned and lifted it her new find almost to her nose. She opened it gently and her eyes filled with a million sparkles as she lost her breath at the beauty inside. "Oh my gosh!"

Bud was standing at her desk in the same place the man had dropped it two days before. "What's that?"

Simms shuffled over to him to show him the ring. "Did you drop this?"

Bud's eyes widened as his head bounced back in surprise at it. He smiled and lifted his brows at her. "It's an engagement ring, Harriett."

Her eyes were still filled with hope and beauty.

Bud pointed out comically, "We're already married."

"Well if you didn't drop it? Who did?"

Bud glanced up, sighed a little and looked around for the Admiral to report the find. He called loudly over the office noise. "Admiral? Someone dropped an engagement ring!"

The usual office hubbub quieted instantly. Sturgis halted his conversation with Petty Officer Coates and looked over. Mac's eyebrows rippled as she emerged from her open office door and leaned against the door jam.

The Admiral, the Commander and the Petty Officer First Class were still standing at the door of the coffee mess. All three were frozen in the middle of their sips of coffee and all three had widened eyes on Bud and Harriett.

Bud and Harriet looked around at the suddenly silent office. "Did somebody lose an engagement ring?" Harriett held up the blue velvet box, but the response was silence. 

Eyes shifted to one another and eventually someone let out a quiet 'cluck' with their tongue.

Lt Simms stepped over to the Admiral to show him. "I found this under my desk."

The Admiral lowered his cup and thought quickly. He put a hand out before Lt Simms opened the box for him to see. "Lieutenant, are you absolutely certain it's an engagement ring?"

Here eyes flicked to the other two a moment, just because she was thinking back on the ring, and nodded at the Admiral again. "Yes, sir."

The Admiral disciplined himself not to glance at anybody as he gave this order. "I'm going to guess," he flickered a grin, "that the owner of this ring doesn't want to make a scene when he retrieves it."

Lt Simms lifted her chin with understanding. "Yes, sir."

He knew he already had the attention of the office. The Admiral chewed on his lip as he thought for a moment. "Lieutenant, I want you to swear that you never reveal the owner of the ring, not even to your husband."

Lt Simms smiled at this and put up a palm in the air. "Yes, sir. I swear."

"And I'm going to assign you to keep the ring in safety until someone comes to you and describes it correctly."

"Yes, sir." She smiled wide and stepped away.

The office was still paused until their staring interrupted the Admiral's next sip of his coffee. His face soured when he blat at them, "Carry on!"

The activity in the office got moving again. Sturgis chuckled and turned back to Coates. Mac unfolded her arms and chewed away a smile when she disappeared into her office.

The Admiral sipped his mug and glanced over at Tiner and Rabb… and then those two men jumped into action to slide quickly to their respective desks.

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The buzz about the ring made it to everyone's ears by knock off. The news even reached the other floor of the building. Petty Officers laid small bets on whose it was. The Commanders and Colonels in the Judges chambers were shaking their heads at the possibilities. No one suspected for a moment that Lt Simms revealed the owner. Instead they argued that, if the answer was 'yes', the owner would make himself known sooner or later by wedding invitation. 

Bud had a doctor's appointment that afternoon, so they came in two different cars. This made it easy for Harriett to stay late and make her self conveniently and discretely available. She was dying to find out who it was so she could blush and giggle about it, in privacy at least. She did some back burner work at her desk until all the bodies filtered out the door.

"Good night, Harriett," Mac said as she closed her office door with a briefcase in one hand and her raincoat in the other. 

"Good night, ma'am," Harriet said brightly.

Mac shuffled up to the desk and lowered her voice. "Has anyone picked up the ring yet?"

Harriett shook her head.

Mac flicked her chin, "Can I see it?"

Harriett thought on this, then rippled her mouth at the wisdom of it and shook her head again. "It's probably not a good idea, ma'am." Her eyes flicked to the only office with a light on.

Commander Rabb was still sitting at his desk as he scribbled out his job on a legal pad.

Mac glanced that direction and lifted her chin. "Good night, Commander!"

Harm was shaken from his thoughts. He looked, smiled strangely, and waved.

Mac let her eyes drag on him as she stepped away. He looked at his watch and put down his pencil. He started getting up to leave for the day. Mac turned quickly and strutted out.

The place was so quiet that the Admiral's door made a lot of noise when it opened. "Really? Where's it at?"

"In Alexandria, sir," Tiner told him. "It's a two bedroom one bath with a big yard and a cherry tree."

The Admiral smiled at that as he put on his hat. "Why is she moving out before the semester's over?"

Tiner's brows flicked. "She's not, sir. She's just bringing the household goods. We're getting an address now so that when she applies for college in the fall, she won't have to pay out of state tuition."

The Admiral nodded approval at this plan and glanced at the approaching Commander. 

Rabb was bright, "You got her to move here! Congratulations."

Tiner nodded, quiet and reserved. "Thank you, sir." 

"Call me," the Admiral told him as he put on his raincoat as he groaned about it a little. "Meredith wants to bring over some cookies on move-in day."

Tiner blinked surprise at that and nodded, "Yes, sir."

Rabb angled his head. "She's coming with the movers?"

Tiner winced as if the idea was insane. "Movers? No, sir. She and the kids are driving over in a Ryder truck. They should be… somewhere in Nebraska right now."

Rabb chuckled at that, adjusted his briefcase in his grip and patted Tiner on the shoulder, "Call me, too. I'll bring pizza."

Tiner chucked at the strange invitations and stepped back to get his raincoat. He was still smiling when he plopped his snoopy bowl on his head and deliberately cocked it slightly to the side. He smiled at Lt. Simms. "Good night, ma'am."

"Good night, Tiner."

Lt Simms watched the three men march out one by one, and the three mumbled more until the elevator closed their voices out.

Harriett angled her head in thought and swiveled back around to her desk. 

Her mouth twisted and her eyes glanced from side to side, verifying that, yes, she was the last one in the office.

Finally, she sighed with disappointment and pulled the ring box out of the drawer. She stood, slid on her raincoat, grabbed on her cover, and pushed the chair back into the desk.

_Ding_

Her back was to the hall when the elevator emptied someone out. She heard the big shoes click on the tiled floor and approach her from behind. She stood straight and let her eyes shift to the side as the man stepped to her side.

She looked.

He held up a small piece of paper. It had a single fold, like a little card, and a small sketch of the ring inside.

She beamed and pulled it out of her coat. 

He put his fingers to his lips.

She nodded, twisted her lips shut with her fingers, and handed it over. 

'Thank you,' he mouthed sincerely, pocketed it, and hurried away.

Harriett waited until he was gone before she let herself ball her fists and squeal.


	2. Housewarming

**The Ring Part 2**

****1456 Telegraph Way, Alexandria VA****

 Tiner parked on the street in front of the little rental house and took a deep breath. He closed his mouth, climbed out of his truck, and grabbed a duffel bag. He didn't stay here last night because there was nothing to sleep on, but even after the furniture arrived today, he wasn't sure if he wanted to sleep here tonight anyway.

Jodi had already given him the option either way. It was like she knew the kids were going to scare the crap out of him and didn't want to lock him up in the same house with them against his will.

He flipped the new key out with his free hand and unlocked the door. The house was small and old, but it sat on a half-acre lot. There were a few trees and lots of grass for the boys to play in. Outside, the wood paneling was painted pale, dusty yellow. The windows were tall and rimmed with fake shutters. 

Inside, the carpet was new, but boring tan, and the walls were pure Apartment White. The front door opened to a rectangular living room/dining room on the right and, from front to back, the two bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen made up the left half of the house. Tiner tossed his duffel on the empty floor of the master bedroom and stepped to the bathroom. 

They fixed the showerhead. Good.

He rubbed his palms together as he stepped back out to the living room. He wondered what her furniture looked like. She'd tried to describe it to him, but he was still clueless. The best he could picture was that she was trying to make her house look like a Native American living in the Admiral's office. 

It just didn't seem to fit.

He moved to the kitchen and looked around. The old sink didn't have a divider and the refrigerator was crooked because it had a missing foot. He moved to the hotel-style telephone he'd brought over yesterday, and sat down on the floor of the kitchen next to it. 

He checked his watch as he pulled the phone to his lap and paused to listen for a dial tone. He had a half an hour before Jodi was due and what he needed was some moral support, so Tiner dialed the only person truly qualified for the job. 

When the other end picked up, he already looked relieved. "Hi, Mom."

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"She doesn't have any friends here," Harm whined lightly. "And Tiner's family is all in Wisconsin." He strolled through the household goods and waited for something to jump out at him.

"But they're enlisted," Mac pointed out as she followed him. "Tiner's already acting different. If we get too social with him, he's gonna stop following orders."

Rabb shrugged and whined, "It's a little annoying, but he's not going to stop doing his job just because we brought them pizza and a housewarming gift."

She coughed out a smile, "D'you know what he said to the Admiral the other day about you?"

Rabb glanced over his shoulder, already humored. "What?"

"After you went in there about the Walker case?… The Admiral came out of his office and ordered Tiner to arrange a frontal lobotomy for you."

Harm flashed a smile chuckled lightly about that.

"And Tiner came back that the closest thing he could manage was to get you a seat as a crash test dummy for a head-on collision."

Harm threw his head back with hearty laughter. 

She hooked her arm easily in his elbow and walked with him further down the aisle. "I agree with you about making her feel welcome for Tiner's sake, just don't go overboard, okay?"

Harm stopped and looked at a display of Waterford crystal. "I never go overboard." He said it as though he actually believed it.

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"Oh my god," Bud paused wide-eyed with a spatula in his hand as three bags from Linens ~N~ Things were planted on the kitchen table. "How much did you spend?"

"Not much," she insisted. "Most of it is for our house anyway."

Bud's eyes shifted to the table as she started pulling out bathroom towels and kitchen gadgets. He sighed a little and put the spatula away before moving to the dishwasher to empty more. "When do you want to go over?"

"This afternoon. Like four or so. Tiner says she was in Kentucky last night and suspects they'll arrive about noon."

"Okay," he stood up and closed the dishwasher door again. He hobbled over to the table and looked over the things she bought. "But we can't stay long. Don't forget he's enlisted."

"I know," she said with disappointment. "But he doesn't have any enlisted buddies at the office."

"Don't worry, Harriett." He patted her arm with a smile, "I'm sure he's got a few." His face wrinkled, "What the heck is that?"

She lifted the metal thing. "It's a vegetable steamer. See?"

Bud curled a lip. "It looks like a space ship."

She collected new goods to be put away and kissed him on the cheek. "Honey, to you, everything looks like a space ship."

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"Meredith," he caught his breath and whined a little, "We're not going to stay the afternoon. Just cookies."

Meredith turned around with a hot casserole in hands and insult on her face. "She just drove for three days, _with children_. She does not want to cook tonight. I guarantee it."

AJ closed his eyes with patience, "That's what McDonalds is for."

Meredith's eyes flicked to the sky as if she were looking for help from one of the few who still outranked AJ, and pushed passed him to put the casserole on the table. "We're not staying for dinner," she said. "But I am going to take this to them so they have the option of not going out."

AJ crossed his arms at his chest and leaned his shoulder blades against the door jam to his kitchen. He stared in the air as he thought about this, and his voice came out soft, "Meredith?"

She turned proudly, "Yes, AJ?" 

His eyes moved over, "I know you like her. I know that you want to take her under your teacher's wing. And I know that it feels like she bridges the gap between your world and mine…."

Meredith flattened her mouth and adjusted her chin, preparing herself to defend her position before he said it, and forcing herself to stay quiet until he was done.

"But keep in mind that he is my yeoman. And I do have to keep a safe distance in order to maintain the dynamics of my command."

Meredith stepped to him and looked up. "You're saying, you can't be friends with your assistant?"

He pressed his mouth and thought how to word this. "I _am_, but only to a degree." He lifted a brow, "Why haven't we brought any casseroles to your students?"

"He's not your student, AJ, he's your secretary. And I'm not opening my arms to them like we're going to go double dating. But I think it's best, for _you_ as much as them, to help them both on this big step. They're not even engaged yet, AJ."

Meredith knew more about what was going on than he did. She'd turned into Jodi's ombudsman and the two had been on the phone several times since Christmas. "Meredith, I don't mind if you and Jodi get along like a house on fire, but keep these _family_ things to a respectful minimum, all right?"

She nodded regally and lifted her face to stare him down again, "Are you aware that he still hasn't met the kids?" 

He blinked, "I thought he went out for the weekend a couple of months ago."

She licked her lips and shook her head. "He canceled it when the war started in case you would need him."

AJ took a minute as this soaked in, then his chin lifted a touch and his lips parted. He unfolded his arms. "What time is she due in?"

Meredith smiled warmly as she realized she succeeded. "About noon. It's eleven thirty now." 

He jumped into action to grab his keys and light jacket. He pointed to the casserole for her to get it and hurry. They hadn't planned to go until Jodi and the kids had arrived and a chance to relax and get acquainted again, but AJ was better friends with his yeoman that he was willing to let on. 

He didn't know if Tiner knew this, but after a three day trek across the United States, the two children would most likely be dirty, screaming, disobedient, exploding with energy and down right terrifying for the trial-dad. Tiner was going to need some moral support.

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****1456 Telegraph Way, Alexandria VA****

The Admiral tried the doorbell, but didn't hear anything, so he knocked too. Feet stomped through the house to rush to the door, but Tiner paused to collect himself before he opened it. 

When Tiner saw the Admiral and Meredith, he breathed with relief before greeting them, "Sir, um. I wasn't expecting you this early. Come on in."

They stepped in and Tiner looked almost like a little dog running in circles as he tried to figure out what to do. "I'm sorry, I don't have anyplace for you to sit yet, sir. Ma'am." He squinted at the casserole in her hands. It looked nothing like cookies, but he was afraid to point this out.

Meredith stepped around him, "Dinner for later." She helped herself to the kitchen to put it away and check the place out.

Tiner shoved his fists into the pockets of his Levi's and looked up at the Admiral like a teenager who just got busted for sneaking out through the back window.

AJ looked down at him and muttered respectfully, "You all right?"

Tiner started to nod, but ended up shaking his head, "No, sir."

The Admiral lightly slapped a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Stand tall, sailor."

Tiner swallowed at the floor, and nodded obediently and straightened his shoulders, even if that wasn't the way the Admiral meant it. "Yes, sir."

Meredith stepped out with friendly surprise, "Tiner, there's nothing in the refrigerator."

Tiner shook his head. "I wasn't sure what to get so I thought…" he glanced to where Jodi was going to emerge from. 

 Meredith easily flapped her hands at him and stepped over. "I'll go get some junk food: some coffee, soda pop, milk for the kids, maybe some chips? Okay?"

Tiner nodded again just because he was too dumfounded to do anything else. 

Meredith put a palm up to AJ, "Keys."

AJ gave her the keys. "Beer."

Meredith agreed with a smile, gave AJ a commanding look at what he was supposed to do while she was gone, and turned away. "I'll be back in a flash."

When the door closed, Tiner dropped his eyes to the ground and AJ looked down at him. AJ turned around and looked at the tiny house. "Not too bad," he said loudly.

Tiner shrugged a shoulder, "It was the best I could do without making my commute a nightmare, sir." He strolled out into the living room a little as the Admiral peeked into the bedrooms and came back out. 

"Is she going to help with any of it?" The Admiral asked as he squinted at the windowsill, hopefully hiding the fact that he was worried about a fortune hunter in his midst.

"Sort of, sir," Tiner responded. "She's going to get as much part time work as she can, that's a given. But she's been considering going part time school so she can get a job here and try this on her own. She's worried that we're moving too fast."

"Too fast for her? Or too fast for you?"

"Too fast for the boys, sir." Tiner explained, "She's more worried about breaking their hearts than either of ours."

The Admiral turned to him at that. He frowned approval and strolled to the front door. "Well, it sounds like her priorities are in the right place." He stepped casually out the front door.

"Yes, sir," Tiner mumbled and followed him. 

The Admiral sat down on the top step of the short front porch and hung his elbows on his knees to look around the neighborhood. Tiner stopped behind him and looked at nothing on the wooden porch. He didn't intend to, but he was right at the Admiral's flank like he was ready to jump up and fetch something at the first glance.

The Admiral turned around, "Have a seat."

"Sir?"

AJ smiled and waved a hand at him, "It's _your_ porch!"

Tiner chuckled a little and sat down. "Yes, sir," he sighed quietly.

"Y'know, being a dad is not so different than being an Admiral," AJ said thoughtfully. "As an Admiral, discipline comes first, and caring comes second."

Tiner glanced over. 

"But as a father, caring comes first, discipline second." His brows furrowed a little, "I think."

Tiner chuckled again, looked out at the empty street, and spoke quietly. "Sir, I appreciate you coming over early. I do. But don't worry too much about me. I've got my mom and dad I can call when I get stuck and… and then Jodi's father is a really nice guy. He's just as worried about me as he's worried about her." He caught the Admiral's eyes a moment, and shrugged a little, "Sir, I'm gonna be okay…" he smiled, "I think."

The two laughed lightly about it and let the deep conversation drift away, and just as the Admiral was about to inhale to say something else, the hollow rattling of a large truck engine rolled down the street.

Tiner's smiled vanished. He sat up straight.

The Admiral slapped him on the shoulder blade and climbed to his feet. "Just remember you've got back up if you need it."

"Yes, sir," Tiner mumbled and got up. 

The Admiral stayed on the front porch, leaned against the wood column, and just stayed out of the way.

The giant yellow moving truck rolled slowly down the street and a ten year old was hanging out the window to look for addresses. The boy's eyes landed on the two alert men and ducked back into the truck to talk to his mother. 

Jodi's eyes looked over at them, nodded to say something, and turned to try to maneuver the big truck backwards on to the yard. Gary looked back out the window at Tiner with the same uncertain eyes as Tiner looked at him. 

Skyler was in the carseat between them and was waving his hands to scream over and over again. "WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE!….."

Suddenly, Gary received an order that included responsibility and jumped eagerly out of the truck to follow it. He looked warily at Tiner, who was now standing the yard and waiting for a clue, and stepped back to the gravel driveway so he could direct his mother.

As the boy ducked and stepped backwards to try to make eye contact with his mom through the side mirror, Tiner figured it out and jumped to join him. 

"I can do this myself!" Gary snapped.

Tiner's brows lifted. He was just trying to help. How was he supposed to respond to that?

Gary looked back and lifted his arms to guide his mother. His moves were clumsy and unsure, but he was using a signalman's cues when directing a parking airplane.

The truck slowly rolled backwards and Gary's eyes often flicked to Tiner with warning to keep the man back. The truck stopped and the engine quieted, and Gary stepped away, passing Tiner completely by and moving to the house. Tiner watched him go for a moment, then moved to the driver's side door. 

The toddler came out next, wearing a red shirt under his coveralls and a train engineer's hat backwards on his head. Like some cartoon character, his legs were already running when they hit the ground. Skyler zoomed by Tiner, into the yard, and ran in circles with his arms in the air, "WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE! WE'RE HERE!…."

When Jodi finally climbed out of the truck, she looked like she'd been beat with an invisible stick. She didn't say anything, she just looked at him, and then closed her eyes to wrap her arms around his shoulders and die. They took a moment to lean on each other a little bit before coming out from behind the truck, and by the time they emerged, Gary had already approached the Admiral with a curl in his lip, "Who are you?"

The Admiral was still leaning on the post, but his arms were crossed, and his chin was lowered, "Is that how you greet strangers?"

Gary glared at the Admiral a little, glanced back at his brother still running in circles, and glared over at his mother and her new boyfriend. The kid looked like he'd been completely out-voted in this major family decision and had no back up to face it with.

The Admiral sat down on the porch again so he could look the kid in the eye, and spoke clearly, "You're not so sure about this, are yeah?"

By then, Jodi and Tiner had strolled up and Gary no longer cared if he got in trouble for it. "No, I'm sure." He told the old man. "I'm sure I want to go home!"

"Gary?" Jodi said gently, "This is Admiral Chegwidden."

Gary blinked at the Admiral, and ducked his chin. Clearly, his mother had already given him a speech about how to behave in front of her new boyfriend's boss.

Gary and Skyler didn't see it, but the Admiral did. As Jodi introduced the man, her thumb was pressed lightly on the small of Tiner's back. "And this is Jason."

Gary's eyes slid evilly to Tiner. 

Tiner angled his head apologetically, "I couldn't do a swimming pool. But I did get a cherry tree."

Gary's eyebrows lifted, "A cherry tree?" He was already looking around.

Tiner leaned over and pointed. "It's in the back yard."

"Are there cherries on it?"

Tiner nodded, his eyes smiling a little.

Gary tried to look around the building and then turned to his brother. "Sky! Wanna see a cherry tree!"

Skyler's hands were still in the air and he turned his run to meet his brother. "Yay! Cherry tree cherry tree yay yay yay!"

Jodi pointed before the little one ran down the side yard, "And that small blue blur would be Skyler."

Jason nodded and grinned. This much was obvious.

In short order, Meredith arrived with goodies and went out to meet the children. She brought out an empty paper grocery bag and helped them pick a load of cherries. Jodi caught the Admiral for a moment out of earshot and thanked him profusely for coming so Jason wouldn't feel in over his head. And soon enough, they opened up the truck and started unloading.

"When everybody moves, everybody moves," Jodi told Gary and Skyler and gave them small boxes and yard from the truck to be distributed elsewhere. The boys were in the way more than they were a help, but Jodi was determined to get them used to the work. Meredith helped quite a bit, and enjoyed every minute of staying close to the children to give them attention and keep them moving to follow their mother's orders.

When the Admiral realized the couple planned to do all this by themselves, he jumped into the truck and started passing stuff out. Tiner and Jodi moved most of the boxes to the front yard, and hustled furniture into the house, but it took all three of them, a half an hour and an elaborate plan just to fit the couch through the front door.

The couch was on the floor inside with Tiner at that end, but on Jodi's shoulder-high palms outside, and the Admiral tried to turn it so it would angle its way into the house. When he did, Jodi started losing her grip and shouted smiles for them to stop before she was crushed. 

The Admiral grinned, paused, and told her to hang on. 

Before she knew why, a very tall pilot trotted up, raised the couch out of her hands, and told her get out of the way.

The three men wiggled the couch inside in a matter of a minute after that, and as soon as it was plopped on the floor against the first wall, everyone took a minute to sit down and take a breather.

The pizza was fetched from the car. Sodas and beer bottles were distributed. And the children were placed on the front porch to eat. 

"You don't have to stay, sir," Tiner insisted with a grin.

The Admiral sat down in the middle of the couch with a beer and a short groan, "S'all right. Had to earn the pizza."

Mac cracked open her soda from the side of the room. "How was the trip?"

"Long." Jodi admitted. "Very, very long." She leaned her shoulder blades against the door jam of the kitchen and picked up her paper plate of pizza. 

Mac snuck a glance to Meredith and Jodi. None of them had any new jewelry on their fingers.

Tiner came out of the kitchen then, the last to settle in with a meal and a beer, and sat down on an end table that hadn't been placed at an end yet. He put his paper plate on a box and sat up to twist open his beer.

"So, how did you two meet?" Meredith asked him.

Jodi pulled up a sip of soda and sang softly, "Tin Man."

Tiner flicked his eyes over and coughed, "shutup," and cleared his throat. "Scuse me, sir." His smile rippled and looked at Meredith to answer. 

Harm sat back in the couch, "Tin Man?"

Tiner's eyes moved from the Commander to Ms Cavanaugh and spoke calm and even, "My first duty station was barracks yeoman at NTC Orlando," he threw a thumb over his shoulder at Jodi, "And this _booter_ here was one of the company yeomen."

"You came to JAG right after that," the Admiral figured out quickly.

Tiner nodded, "Yes, sir. She was shipped to the Gompers a week before I first set foot in your office."

The Admiral brought another bite of pizza to his mouth, "So what's "Tin Man" all about?"

Jodi's nose made a noise.

Tiner's eyes slid her direction. He licked his lips and faced the Admiral. "That's just what they called me in A school, sir. She's just trying to get me in trouble."

"Why would it get you in trouble?" the Admiral coaxed.

Jodi finally stood on both feet and told them. "They called him that because he was trained in protocol and paperwork. They called him The C3PO of A School because he could …" she started laughing and waved a finger at him, "do it. I can't do it."

Tiner folded his lips together and tried not to giggle as he did it. He put on an English accent and spoke like C3PO, "I can translate six million forms of profanity into language suitable for officers."

The Admiral laughed. Meredith's eyes popped out with giggles. Mac turned and hid behind her pizza. Harm sat forward in near insult. "_What_ did you just say?!"

Tiner's mouth flashed back to normal and gave the man an expressionless face, "Nothing, sir."

"Did you say what I thought you said?"

"No, sir." Tiner said simply.

Harm hung an elbow on the arm of the couch and eyed Tiner carefully. "Can you give us a demonstration?"

"Yes, sir." Tiner told him honestly.

Harm narrowed his eyes, "Are you doing it now?"

The twinkle in Tiner's eyes was undeniable. "I can neither confirm nor deny, sir."

The Admiral leaned into Meredith and cackled some more.

Harm looked at her and back to Tiner. The man's brows were raised and a tiny grin was on his lips, but he was very easily facing the Commander off with nothing but 'yes sir's and 'no sir's…. The only language officers could understand.

The Admiral sniffed and calmed himself and shook his head, "Tiner, I'm just now seeing a side of you I never thought was there."

"Yes, sir," Tiner said fervently, sat up to grab his paper plate again and smiled a little as he started picking up the mess of his guests and family in his little house. He took a long minute in the kitchen to catch his breath again.

He didn't let his guests stay to help any further. It just felt wrong despite their good intentions. It didn't take much to convince the officers that they could handle it themselves. And it was an accident that Tiner let his discomfort show up in his face. 

What he needed was to be alone with Jodi and the boys even if it meant doing the rest of the unloading by themselves. Once Gary screamed about Skyler dumping a soda on the porch, and Jodi hurried to quiet the children when guests were around, Tiner's eyes flicked with panic and concern in their direction, and four officers instantly knew that it was time to go. 

Tiner and Jodi walked everyone out the front door, but before the guests made it out of the house and down to the walk, Bud and Harriett were walking up.

As the loud hellos and similar banter filled the air, Harm stepped over and muttered the situation to Bud. But, by the time Bud slowed his wife down to express it to her, Jodi was shaking the woman's hand and thanking her for the wrapped housewarming gift. 

Tiner stepped up behind the crowd and patiently waited for everyone to leave.

In the middle of all the talk, Meredith asked Harriett, "Did anybody claim the ring?"

Harriett's stopped cold. She looked directly at Meredith in order to force herself not to look at anybody else and swallowed hard to nod, "Yes, mayam. The owner did step forward."

"Ring?" Jodi echoed.

Jason closed his eyes and exhaled.

Mac muttered to Jodi, "Someone dropped an engagement ring under the Lieutenant's desk and nobody jumped to claim it until it could be done discretely."

The Admiral lifted his brow at Lt Simms. "And have you revealed the identity to anyone?"

The Lt was dead serious about this. "No, sir. I didn't even tell Bud."

Jodi figured out the sudden discomfort and laughed evilly, "_I_ know who it is."

"Yours?" Meredith suggested deeply.

"Uh uh." Jodi shook her head like the idea was preposterous and glanced back at Jason. 

Tiner lifted a brow at her.

The Admiral down at the civilian with a whine, "How do _you_ know?"

Jodi just shrugged innocently. "I know a mole in the office?"

The Admiral lifted his head to glare at Tiner. 

Tiner ducked his head like a guilty pup.

Harm brought up his watch, and said it loud and surprised. "_Look_ at the time!" 

Bud laughed at that. Harriett gave Jodi one last quiet welcome before turning around to leave with Bud. Mac waved as she stepped away, glancing at Harm's attempt at innocence. Meredith told her to keep in touch before hooking into AJ's arm and glancing up at the façade the guilty Admiral was hiding behind. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **

As soon as the truck was unloaded, the boys spent the rest of the day playing outside and riding their bikes to explore the neighborhood. When the sun went down, Jodi and Jason stopped the hard labor of unpacking the essentials to warm up the casserole. The boys were ushered to the table and the forks were discovered. Starving to death and exhausted, they didn't think they would care what it tasted like, until all four of them paused after the first bite.

Skyler opened his mouth and dropped the half-chewed mass back down on the plate.

Tiner sat back in the dining room chair and swallowed, he glanced at Skyler and then a saw a similar face on Gary. "How about McDonalds?"

Instant unanimous vote. And thank God for Playplaces. 

They'd unpacked a few stand-alone lamps to keep from bumping into walls and ended the day with the rebuilding of the bunk beds. Jason and Skyler were already getting along okay and this was proven by the request of a train story in the absence of a book about one. 

Gary groaned about it from the top bunk, but Tiner did his best to tell a story about a train. Skyler was a happy boy and easily cuddled into sleep as soon as it was over. 

Tiner stood up then and looked at the top bunk. Gary turned his back to him and snapped, "Go away."

Jason closed his eyes in silent prayer. Skyler was fine with him, but Skyler already had a father, and that butthead was demanding Jodi pay for plane trips across the states every six months. Gary had no father on the birth certificate and still didn't want to have anything to do with Jason.

Jodi motioned Jason out of there, turned off the light, left the door open, and let them go to sleep.

She saw him in the master bedroom after that. He was sitting on the mattresses (the frame hadn't been built yet) and putting things away into his duffel bag as if to leave for the night.

She paused at the door and crossed her arms uncomfortably. "Are you okay?"

Tiner ripped the zip closed again and threw the bag down to the floor. His eyes were full of insult and disappointment. "Why didn't you try to find me?" At the rate they were falling in love when she left, Jason could easily find himself having taken her in and raising Gary as his own.

They already talked about this over the phone and she thought it was settled. Jodi rubbed her lips together and moved to sit down on the bed. "You never wrote me…" she remembered the letter, "Well, I _thought_ you never wrote me… I figured you were off finding your next favorite company yeoman."

He put his chin on his shoulder, but didn't actually look back at her. "Did you really think that?"

"I didn't want to," she admitted. "But I was scared it was true. We kept saying it was just a good time."

He closed his eyes.

She leaned into him, "Do you realize we've been back together six months now?"

He nodded and grinned sadly, "But we've only been together face to face for two weeks… and today."

She shrugged, "It's the Navy way. If you don't do long distance relationships, you can't do them at all."

Jason stared at the air and into memory. "I should have married you in A school."

A blonde eyebrow lifted.

He looked back again and nodded it into conviction. "I should've."

"You weren't thinking about marriage in A school," she pointed out.

He grinned, "That's true, I wasn't… But I should've."

She took in a breath, "Would you be saying that if Gary's father were still in the picture?"

He chewed on his lower lip, considering this. "If you weren't already married? Yeah." His eyes turned back to her again to find hers filled with love and brand new hope. 

She curled her arm into his and cuddled up closer behind his shoulder. "Y'know what's weird? The last ten years, I've been trying to find them a good dad and all my efforts were just getting me deeper into trouble. I lost all hope of ever having a happy life of my own, and I was just getting to the point of accepting that….

"And then, when the Commander and Colonel came out of the blue and starting asking a bunch of questions- tagged me as their number one suspect and the shit just kept getting deeper and deeper- It was like, 'how dare you ever have any hope in the first place, Jodi. Even the Navy hates you, after all these years…' " Her voice died to a whisper. "I felt so cheated."

Her eyes opened again, "And then Commander said something I'll never forget. He said, 'It must be hard going through life without trusting anybody, Petty Officer Young.' It got me thinking. I thought back over time to figure out who was the last person I really trusted." Her smile was sweet on him, "So, the weird part is that I forced myself to trust the Commander enough to get me out of that mess, and if I _hadn't_, he never would have called to follow up after he went back to DC, and he never would have given the phone to you."

He turned and put a palm on the bed beside her, sighed deeply and let out a far away smile as he thought about all that.

"For what it's worth? If you _had_ asked me in A school, I would've said 'yes'."

Sparkling blue eyes peaked up from under his brows. "And if I asked you now?"

A sad smile spread across her face, "Now, I'm not the one you have to clear it with."

His eyes flicked in the direction of the other bedroom, and he lifted his head with a new smile. "Like you don't have a vote?"

She giggled and blushed a little, "I have veto power. That is all. This request chit need to get a few signatures before I can even see it."

He looked over his nose and nodded. "I'm good at getting signatures."

She laughed, rapidly turning back into that quiet and shy little bookworm of a girl that blushed at all of his jokes. He ducked in and slowly took her mouth for a long, sweet moment, and they giggled a little more as he pushed her back on the naked mattress and quickly decided to stay the night.


	3. Business Trip

**The Ring Part 3**

Petty Officer Tiner looked like a criminal the way he was sitting at his desk, hunched hard over a small form. He kept glancing up to see if anybody was approaching, grinned, and filled out the form nice and neat. It took a long time to figure out how to word it, and he considered all day long whose names should fill in the boxes on the request chit. It was going to take months to do it right, but it was worth it. 

"What's that?" Colonel MacKenzie said, popped an M&M in her mouth from Tiner's candy bowl and paused with a file before reporting to the Admiral's office.

Tiner covered the chit and looked up guilty. "Ma'am?"

The Colonel flicked her chin with a grin as she chewed, "Lemme see, 'Tin Man'."

"You can't tell anybody, ma'am," Tiner waited for agreement.

The Colonel nodded and held out her hand. She pulled the request chit to his eyes and her face lit up. She nodded, took another M&M and gave it back. "You should put her father in the CO's box."

Tiner shook his head, "I'm going to have to _live_ with Gary and Skyler, ma'am."

The Colonel shrugged agreement at that and motioned to The Mahogany Door. "Are you armed today, Tiner?"

Tiner smiled and pressed a button, "Admiral, Colonel Mackenzie is here to see you, sir."

"Send her in."

The Colonel thanked him quietly, grinned a little about the cute request chit, and sighed away her resolve that Tiner was the keeper of the ring by the time the door closed behind her.

"Have a seat, Colonel." The Admiral said easily, put down his pen and got out of his chair.

Mac sat down, hung an elbow daintily on the armrest and crossed her legs. "What can I do for you, sir?"

The Admiral sat down in the other guest chair and turned slightly to talk to her. "Actually, I think there's something I can do for you."

"Sir?" She was listening.

"Have you considered your career options after JAG, Colonel?"

Her mouth opened a moment, and she lifted her chin with her answer. "I have given it a lot of thought, sir, but I'm not sure I'm ready to move yet."

"Has a judgeship been one of your thoughts?"

Her grin came out in waves of embarrassment. "Occasionally... sir."

He reached over to his desk and grabbed a single sheet of paper and his glasses. He put his glasses on and lifted his nose so he could read through them. "I received this notice from downstairs about a position opening up. They have requested I make a recommendation to fill the position and I, personally, think you would make and excellent judge, Colonel."

"Permanently, sir?"

He handed the paper over for her to see. "I don't think I need to remind you that it would be a change of command, and while I would have a hard time filling your position on my staff, I think, professionally and personally, it's time for you to move on."

Her mouth was softly agape and her eyes wide eyed on the paper. "That's a lot to consider, sir." She handed the sheet back and licked her lower lip.

"Consider it," he said quietly and quieted his voice even more. "We will miss you. I'm not telling you that I don't want the door slam you in the rear, but I know there are a few things on hold while you are still in this command."

"Professionally and personally," she echoed and nodded with full understanding now. "Yes, sir."

"My letter of rec is due by the end of the week."

"Yes, sir. I understand sir."

The Admiral got up with a soft smile on his lips, even if he wasn't looking at her, "dismissed."

The Colonel came to attention, "Yes, sir," about faced and left with a huge, overwhelmed smile.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  ** 

Jodi came in with a visitor's badge and jumped a little to stay out of everybody's way as she moved through the office to Tiner's corner of the world. She paused when she saw that The Mahogany Door was open. She didn't want to get in the way of business.

She stepped around so she could see Tiner's desk. He looked up and slid a small form away and into a drawer. He flicked his chin for her to get in the chair and she followed the order as quietly as she could.

Tiner smoothly pulled out another file and opened it, glanced through the open Mahogany Door, the clock, and opened the file to work on something else until he could go to lunch.

Jodi could hear that the Admiral was on the phone now because his voice had risen with surprise. Tiner looked up again, then stood up at the motion of an order. He stepped around and closed the door. He looked worried.

"What's the matter?" She whispered.

He shook his head. He didn't know. He thought a long moment and moved to get back behind his desk, but the door opened again just as he was lowering to his chair. 

Jodi watched the next scene with widened eyes and frozen in place.

The Admiral emerged with orders flying from his stiff mouth. He looked out to the floor and called the first body he saw, "Lieutenant! Gather key personnel for an emergency staff meeting in my office."

"Yes, sir."

"Tiner! Air Force One is taking off from Andrews in," he looked at his watch, "seventy two minutes." He pointed hard at his yeoman. "Get me on it."

Tiner was already at attention by the time the orders were done, but he collapsed to pick up his phone. "Yes, sir."

The Commander, the Colonel, Lt Roberts, Lt Simms… were individually hustling passed the Admiral to get into his office and find a place to stand at attention. 

The Admiral's turned half way to go back in and his eyes caught on Jodi. He realized instantly that the social gatherings they'd had turned out to make this move to a civilian a hell of a lot easier, instead of harder. 

He pointed at her and shoved a thumb over his shoulder. "You. Out." 

He was fairly impressed when it worked. 

"Yes, sir," Jodi said sharp and quick. She exchanged an understanding glance with Tiner as she hustled quickly out of the way. The only part that Jodi felt bad about was that she couldn't play sailor too.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  ** 

Commander Rabb was at the end of the line in the Admiral's office, Colonel Mackenzie was next to him, then Sturgis, then Roberts, then Simms. All five were standing at attention and staring out the window and wondering, unworried, what this was all about.

After Admiral Cheggwidden was done barking at Jodi, he came back into the office and closed the door. "All right people, I'm off to Geneva. Commander Rabb-

"Yes, sir."

"-You are acting JAG. Commander Turner –"

"Yes, sir."

"-Take Commander Rabb's cases. Lt Roberts-"

"Yes, sir."

"-You are going to take the Colonel's cases-"

"Yes, sir."

"- Lt Simms, keep the office running smoothly and deal with that Watch Stander issue-"

"Yes, sir."

"-and Colonel Mackenzie." He stopped to hold his wrests behind his back and faced her, "unfortunately I can no longer give you a week." 

Her mouth opened, but she closed it again, "I understand, sir."

"Can you give me an answer?" He angled his head expectantly.

Mac actually looked him in the eye. "Yes, sir. I'd like the opportunity, sir."

Tiner came through the closed door and closed it again behind him. He stood at attention just inside the door with a couple of files under his arm.

"Good," the Admiral said as if he would have ordered her to do it anyway. "I will fax it to Commander Rabb from Geneva, and Commander?" He looked the man in the eyes even if the man didn't look back, "you _will_ forward my letter of recommendation for her transfer."

Harm expression looked like he'd just been kicked in the gut. 

Sturgis, Roberts, and Simms all glanced in one fashion or another but flicked back before anybody saw. The only person that didn't look surprised was Tiner.

Harm looked at Mac, she was still standing at attention. His slanted brows turned to the Admiral. "Sir?"

The Admiral pressed his mouth and gave him a glare.

Harm went back to attention, but his voice was beaten. "Yes, sir."

The Admiral moved to his desk and pulled up his briefcase. "Rabb, you're with me to the airport so I can turn the rest of it over. Everyone else, dismissed."

After all the 'yes, sirs', they about faced and sighed as they moved passed Tiner out the door.

"A transfer, sir?" Rabb echoed now that most everyone was gone.

"Not now, Rabb." He stuffed a stack of files into the Commander's hands and slammed his briefcase shut. He was already rattling off the status of the things as they left the room. Rabb took the files and followed him. The Admiral paused at Tiner.

"You have a seat on Air Force One, sir, and I have a car ready for you," Tiner reported. 

The Admiral nodded and jumped back into ordering the Commander things to do. Tiner fell in behind and followed their fast pace until they were outside. Petty Officer Greks stepped aside like everyone else for the Admiral to pass, but held the keys in the air when Tiner passed him. Tiner swiftly grabbed them with a 'thankyou' flick of his brow, and hurried up to opened the car door for the Admiral.

Tiner pretended not to hear anything unless it was an order addressed specifically to him. He was used to this. The seat was still warm from Greks driving the car over and leaving it in front of the quarterdeck for him. This wasn't the first time he, Greks, and Chief Yonsek so instantaneously managed a car that the Admiral barely had time to think what kind of an orchestra was required to pull it off. 

Being a Yeoman was one of those jobs that no one noticed you unless you were doing it wrong, like being a hotel maid, or a janitor…  Tiner climbed into the driver's seat, buckled up, and quickly got the car moving down the road.

In the back seat, the orders started to lean towards debating when the Commander made suggestions on how to handle this or that. He wrote notes on the file on his knee and asked the right questions about the right issues. The car sped up on the freeway and moved quickly around the loop, and eventually, the Admiral had nothing more to pass over. 

The Commander looked over the notes so far. His pen hovered over the file. "Anything else, sir?"

"Tiner," the Admiral said, and leaned between the bucket seats to toss up his car keys, "get my car home and make sure my plants get watered."

"Yes, sir." Tiner took the keys from over his shoulder and stuffed them into his pocket.

"Didn't even get a chance to pack," the Admiral muttered, then shouted, "and call Ms Cavanaugh. Try to explain it to her. I won't be able to call from the plane."

"Yes, sir."

"Can't you call her now, sir?" Rabb asked cautiously.

The Admiral shook his head. "She's in class." 

Rabb closed the file and settled in. "About Colonel MacKenzie's transfer, sir-"

The Admiral looked out the opposite window. His voice was loud and harsh. "You knew it was going to happen sooner or later, Commander."

"Where are you sending her, sir?"

The Admiral glanced over and pointed out arrogantly, "I am not at liberty to say, Commander."

Rabb closed his mouth and sighed through his nose. 

"You know, Meredith keeps asking me about that damned engagement ring that Simms found in the office last week. She's wondering why it hasn't showed up on somebody's finger yet."

Rabb looked out the other window. Tiner's eyes flicked to the mirror and back to the road. 

"Tiner?"

"Yes, sir?"

"You've got your ear to the ground," he said with an almost a smile. "What's the shoptalk have to say about it?"

"Honestly, sir?" Tiner asked cautiously. He really didn't want to have to admit this.

"Yes. Honestly. Who does everybody have the money on?"

Tiner swallowed and kept his eyes on the road. "The shoptalk has narrowed it down to three people, sir."

"And they are?"

Tiner stuttered this one a little, "Well, sir, they've narrowed it down to the three of us, sir. You, the Commander, and me."

The Admiral nodded, it was as he expected, and rolled his head easily to Rabb. "Now why would the JAG office think _you_ are a suspect in that mystery, Commander?"

Rabb was staring out the window with his elbow on the sill and his fingers pinched in front of his pursed lips.

"Any more questions about the Colonel's transfer?" the Admiral challenged.

Rabb shook his head long before dropping his hand and verbally responding. "No, sir."

The Admiral nodded at his win and looked out the window at their progress. 

Tiner pulled up in front of Andrew's AFB kiosk then and pulled out his ID card. In the back seat, the Commander and Admiral did the same thing. The marine ducked his head in each window to check them thoroughly, and came to a swift attention and salute to let them through.

They had to go through two more of the same inspection to get to Air Force One, and finally, Tiner stopped the car and hopped out. He saluted when he opened the door for the Admiral, and the Admiral was gathering his briefcase and his coat so much that he barely flicked at his bill so Tiner could put his hand down. 

Without a glance at either of them, the Admiral step away. "Hold down my fort, Gentlemen."

"Yes, sir," they said in unison and watched the Admiral strut away to the heavily guarded jetliner.

Tiner waited to see if the Commander, now acting JAG, was expecting to have the door held open for him too, but Rabb didn't look at him. Still upset about Mac's transfer, he shook his head, stepped around the Petty Officer and climbed in the front passenger seat instead.

Tiner closed the back door and trotted around to the driver's side to hurry them both back to work.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  ** 

It was nearly 8 o'clock at night, but Harm was cleaning the counters of his kitchenette with the energy of a morning run. His mouth was stiff and his eyes narrowed as his arm rapidly scrubbed the sink. His face and shoulders were tense as if he was angry at the thing for not coming bright-white clean. But it _was_ clean - it was just a _black_ sink. 

The phone twiddle itself alive again, but Harm only gritted his teeth a little and kept scrubbing, letting it switch over to the answering machine. 

Mac's voice peeped up again. _Beeeep_. "Harm? I know you're home. I want to explain. I didn't have a chance to tell you about the transfer, first. . . . Harm? Please pick up?" She let out a deep sigh and hung up.

Harm's eyes didn't move away from the bleach white foam on the shiny black sink, but he did pause his scrubbing and closed his eyes. She's trying to run away again. He could feel it. Requesting a transfer was her way of putting distance between them. Had to be.

A soft knock sounded on the door.

Harm blinked out of his thoughts and threw the scrubber into the sink. He wiped his hands on a towel as he strode easily to the door. He had a suspicion who it was and debated whether or not to open the door. He wanted to talk to her, he really did, but he was afraid of the excuses, the explanations, and how bad they were going to hurt.

The phone rang again.

Harm closed his eyes for a moment to collect himself, swallowed hard, and opened the door. 

Mac hit a thumb on her cell phone and dropped it into her jacket pocket. Harm's twiddling phone went silent without further ado. Harm sighed through his nose and stepped back to let her in, but didn't exchange glances with her until he'd already closed and locked the door behind her.

Mac pulled her jacket off as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. She casually hung it up on the old-fashioned coat rack. 

He was looking up to the rafters with an open mouth and slanted brows. His voice was quiet and tight. "Where are you going?"

Mac couldn't help but smile at this. She folded her arms at her chest and faced him down with a lifted chin. "Downstairs."

First, his brows wrinkled, and then his eyes flicked to the side.

He lifted his head to leer his pure confusion at her.

Mac arrogantly raised a brow at him. "The Admiral has recommended me for the gavel."

His stomach tightened a little, but his tone climbed off the soap box. "Congratulations."

She angled her head to nod, "thank you," and swiveled on her heels to move deeper into the apartment. "I would have told you sooner but you were avoiding my messages."

"I asked you at work," Harm pointed out as he followed her. "You brushed me off."

"We're beyond being colleagues, Harm. I didn't want to have this discussion at work." She helped herself to the refrigerator and pulled out a half-empty bottle of sparkling cider. He had bought it for a dinner they'd had a week ago, and, as she suspected, hadn't touched it since then. 

Harm sat down on the stool and crossed his elbows on the kitchen bar. "This will be a change of command for you."

Mac brought out two goblets and put them on the counter in front of him with a proud tilt of her chin. "Yep."

"I heard about the slot opening up. Did the Admiral say why he picked you for this job?" _'Instead of me'_, was the unspoken end to that question.

"Nope." Her deep brown eyes giggled as she poured the glasses. "But look on the bright side, Harm, you'll still have the chance to fire off weapons in the courtroom."

He rolled his eyes a little, and grinned out almost a squeak in his voice. "Not with _you_ on the bench, I won't."

Her face blossomed into a big, power-filled smile at that. She picked up her goblet and looked over the rim at him as she sipped.

Harm had his head angled a little, gazing through a dozen deep thoughts into his cider as he rotated the goblet gently by the stem. 

Mac put her glass down and folded her elbows on the counter to look him in the eye. His eyes flicked up expectantly. She was clearly teasing him. "At least it'll give you a chance to make use of that ring."

His face lifted a little more, almost to the point of looking down his nose at her, and clearly not folding so easily on this particular witness stand. "What ring?"

She licked her lower lip and stood tall again, leaving it at that, and strolled into the living room with her goblet. "Do you deny that you are the owner of the ring Lt Simms found under her desk?"

He nearly chuckled and swiveled in the stool. "I can neither confirm nor deny that, _your honor_."

Mac turned at his audacity before sitting down. "The witness will answer the question."

He lifted a brow as he got up, "the witness is being badgered."

Harm chuckled as he stepped over. Mac's eyes flicked to the sky for patience as she sat down. "Was it your ring or not?"

Harm chuckled deeply as he sat down on the couch next to her and set his goblet on the coffee table. "Asked and answered."

She dropped her head back with a groan and he only chuckled more at her. 

His voice was smiling, but careful nonetheless. "Why are you so interested in engagement rings all of a sudden?"

Mac sighed and turned to him, resting her shoulder easily on the back of the couch. "I'm not," she said with honesty. "Not exactly, but when Harriett found it, the look on your face…" she inhaled a new smile and shook her head. "I don't know."

Blue eyes were intense on her, even with shining sparkles at her from the side. 

Mac squirmed a little in the stare, and easily diverted her eyes with a slight change of subject. "Besides, I know whose ring it is already."

Surprise flooded his face so much that he leaned back on the couch and propped his elbow on the frame. "Do tell."

"I caught Tiner working on a request chit to send around to the family, 'respectfully requesting permission to ah…" she thought in the air to get the wording right, "love, honor, and cherish Jodi and her children for the rest of his life.'"

His smile showed all teeth and the tip of his tongue again before he shrugged indifferently. "Must have been his ring then."

He said that way too easily and Mac watched like a vulture at how he so casually reached over to pick up his goblet. Her eyes drilled into his as he faced her again, and Harm _almost_ pulled off looking like he didn't notice when he lifted his goblet. "A toast to your promotion."

The goblets tinked quietly and they both sipped, but brown eyes watched over the rim for a flicker of confirmation that he had nearly been caught by the short hairs… and blue eyes watched over the rim realizing just how close he'd gotten to being caught by the short hairs.

Mac decided not to make him admit it now anyway. She just let herself drift into the intoxicating buzz that it made him squirm. It meant the thought had at least crossed his mind. She propped her head on her hand and pouted a little, "why is your bedroom so far away from your couch?"

Harm put the goblet down again, looked across the expanse of the studio apartment at his bedroom, and turned to her with a simple explanation. "Because the couch works just as well."

She giggled.

He ducked his face into her neck with a grin. "Tell me you brought a uniform for tomorrow."

She bit her lower lip and drooped her eyelids closed at his kiss. "No," she almost whimpered, "I didn't."

"Fine," he muttered into her collarbone. "You can borrow one of mine."

Mac showing up to work dressed in floppily long commander's whites? If that didn't give them away, nothing would. She snickered at the thought, and then cried out in surprise when he toppled her backwards onto the couch and convinced her to stay the night anyway.


	4. Chief Tiner

**The Ring Part 4**

Harm's eyes opened when the front door closed. He put a hand on the bed where she was before, but the crumpled sheets were empty. He blinked and pinched the sleep out of his eyes, checked the clock, and flipped the blue sheets off of his naked body. 

He scratched the top of his head as he lumbered into the living room and scanned around for signs of Mac. He was certain she stayed the night. He stared to wonder if he'd dreamt it, but he wasn't creative enough to think up sex like that.

Standing naked in the middle of his apartment, Harm closed his eyes for a long sleepy blink to wake up and remember. He sniffed awake, and then he smelled it. It was the most god-awful smell: synthetic grease, galley eggs, Navy coffee….

Harm turned to the kitchen. A breakfast had been cooked for him, and she was thoughtful enough to keep the wax paper boxes displaying the meatless bacon and I Can't Believe It's Not Eggs around the steamy dish. Harm's face brightened with the humor of it. He chuckled as he approached, and scratched his whiskers when he picked up the creature that was sitting on the counter poised to eat the eggs. 

The bear was a plush stuffed animal with blue fur and a cute little white nose. It wore a tall white chef's hat, full apron, and carried a tiny cardboard spatula. 

Harm scratched the back of his head and wondered it he would insult her if he didn't eat it.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  

Harm was in the Admiral's chair with stacks of files and paperwork around him. He wasn't his usual cocky self about being in this office because his ear was pressed to the phone. "Yes, sir, I took care of that."

"Good," the Admiral said from over the horn, "I also want you to check the results of the Chief's Review Board. Did you get it?"

Harm's eyes widened as he searched the various stacks of files and flipped through odd collections of loose papers. "Just a moment, sir." He chewed on the side of his tongue and covered the phone, ready to page Tiner to help him find it—

But he stopped himself and put the phone to his ear. "Admiral? What name would I be looking for, sir?"

"You can't find it, can you?" The Admiral said with a smile in his voice.

Harm tried to sound innocent, "I was just wondering if I should or should not get Petty Officer Tiner's help to find it, sir."

The Admiral's voice calmed down, "get Gunny to help you…. And if he made it, inform Ms Young yourself."

"Yes, sir." Harm smiled easily. "Anything else, sir?"

"No, that's it."

"How's Geneva, sir?"

The Admiral sighed, "the same." He chuckled a little. "I'll call again tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

Click.

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Gunny stepped into the room with a casual saunter, "you asked for me Commander?"

"Close the door, Gunny."

 Gunny turned and exchanged glances with Tiner as he closed the door.

He squared his feet in front of the desk and clasped his hands easily behind him. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Can you help me find the Chief's Review Board results in this mess? I don't even know what they look like."

The Gunny smiled. "He made it, sir. Tiner _is_ on the list."

Rabb's face splashed with surprise. He sat up slowly, "how do you know?"

The Gunny smiled again. This data should have been obvious to the man. "I'm Gunnery Sergeant, sir -- same rank jarhead-style. We saw the results before anyone else did."

Harm put a palm on the armrest. "The Admiral's not going to be here for this. What would you suggest I do?"

"Let us handle it, sir," Gunny said. "I've taken the liberty of informing all the required personnel. At knock off Friday afternoon, the Chiefs will be by to… take care of it, sir."

"I see." Harm spouted, a little aghast at the way the NCOs were taking care of their own. "As his commanding officer, albeit temporarily, shouldn't _I_ be the one to give him the anchor?"

Gunny grinned a little. "If it's that important to you, sir, you're welcome to give him the anchor."

Harm looked at him from the side of his eyes. "What else are you planning to do?"

Gunny smiled from ear to ear, "tradition, sir." He let that sink into Rabb's brain a little before asking, "is there anything else, sir?"

Rabb was still wincing in the air at what they were going to do to Tiner, in the office, Friday afternoon. He simply shook his head.

Gunny about-faced and grinned as he moved out the door. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  

If he made the Chief's board, they would have told him by now and Tiner said as much over the phone to Jodi the night before. She consoled him lovingly and told him there will always be another Chief's board. Even her father called him up and told him not to sweat. As he told every other enlisted man that didn't make it, he told Tiner to sit down with his ECO and figure out _why_ he didn't make it, so he could fill that hole before the next review board. 

The only thing really glaring from his service record was sea duty, but being the Judge Advocate General's yeoman should have made up for that. However, without sea duty, there was no way to get his ESWS and lost a great number of chances for accommodations to add to the tiny fruit salad on his chest. He debated heavily on whether or not leaving JAG was worth making Chief.

By 1500 Friday afternoon, Tiner was waiting patiently for knock off so he could go home to Jodi and drink a six-pack to talk the decision over. Commander Rabb had The Mahogany Door open and waded through paperwork without incident, and the office was quieted to a grueling silence of work. Everyone was trying to get through one task or another before the weekend. There was little more noise when court let out, but Commander Sturgis and Lieutenant Roberts weren't exactly noisy when they finished arguing their cases and moved back to their offices. 

Then, like an explosion on a battlefield, the noise of big men on the warpath boomed through the office. The eldest two were gray-haired, the youngest two were raven haired with gray streaks. All were Viet Nam Vet era and all of them were six-foot-one and taller. They marched in loudly, looking around to find their way and couldn't care less about the people that stared back at them.

Lt Simms looked up and slowly stood up. Lt Roberts' brows flicked. Commander Sturgis grinned a little. Colonel Mackenzie turned and squinted, approaching slowly, "Senior Chief Young, isn't it?" She held out a hand to shake the man's hand.

Roger, Joe, and Jethro Young faced the Colonel off from behind Steve and boomed angrily, "where is the Admiral's office?!"

Steve Young waved for them to shut up and lifted a small request chit to the Colonel. "our yeoman had the balls to mail me this request chit without signing it correctly." 

He showed her the request chit and remembered it instantly. "What's wrong with it Senior Chief? I thought it was kind of romantic."

"Romantic?!" Roger boomed from behind her.

"Where is that sonofabitch?!" Joe growled but the move let his smile escape.

Clearly, they were putting on a show and when Gunny hustled to the scene with a twinkle in his eyes, people started figuring out what it was all about, "this way, Senior Chiefs."

Various members stood to watch the crew move to the Admiral's office. They strolled nonchalantly to peak around the corner and see what was going on. The old men made a show of it: stomping their way to Tiner's desk. Commander Rabb was already standing at the door with his mouth open, trying to figure out what to do. "Nice to see you again, Senior Chief."

Tiner hadn't met The Dad yet, much less any of the infamous uncles. He was too stunned to get up from his desk for them, but his brows lifted with surprise, fear, and _'oh shit, I'm dead'_.

Joe Young slapped the request chit on his desk and pointed at it. "You signed this as a Petty Officer First Class?!!?" He picked it up and ripped it up and then threw the slivers of paper at Tiner's head. 

Tiner blubbered a little and started to offer to sign it as-

His breath escaped as enlightenment filled his eyes.

Joe Young's growl was as loud and as tough as the Admiral in a bad mood. "Fill it out again if you're still alive on Monday."

Gunny slid passed the big men, unworried, and gave the anchor to Commander Rabb. 

Harm smiled until his tongue stuck out again, stood on both feet, and moved through the men to step out to the floor so everyone could see. 

"Chiefs?" Gunny said, smiling easily down at Tiner. "Would you mind bringing the Petty Officer out to the floor?"

Jethro leaned over the desk and grabbed the front of Tiner's crackerjacks with both hands. Roger took one arm and Joe took the other. The three of them yanked Tiner out of his chair like they were going to beat the snot out of him and pulled him right over the top of the desk. 

The move knocked over the keyboard until it hung from the side by its cord, the pencil holder fell and splashed pencils and white board markers over the floor, and several files went tumbling making a complete mess and scaring the bejesus out of poor Tiner.

They planted his feet on the ground in the main room but held him by the arms in front of the Commander. The collar flap of his cracker jacks was wrinkled and hanging over his shoulder, and then Steve Young roughly slapped the white cover on his head upside down, Gilligan style.

Gunny stood next to the Commander with a big smile, "Commander, it looks to me like this man is grossly out of uniform."

Commander Rabb chuckled a little as he tried to figure out where to put the anchor. Cracker Jacks don't have collars in the traditional sense. He pulled the white hat off Tiner's head, pinned the anchor to the cuff, and chuckled when he gladly slapped it back on in the same Gilligan fashion. "Congratulations, Chief Tiner."

Tiner's arms were still being held firm, so he flicked his head to adjust the hat enough to see. He had a bewildered grin on his face and muttered, "thank you, sir."

"Oh, he ain't no Chief until we're done with him!" Jodi's father hooted loudly to the room as he grabbed an ankle. "Everybody say good bye to Petty Officer Tiner!"

They sang goodbyes and congratulations and watched as the four big men took him by all fours and picked him up to their shoulders. The Young Boys carried the poor kid out to make a chief out of him and Gunny proudly strutted behind, grabbing his own cover and smiling evilly at the people he passed.

Tiner was swung by the arms and legs and literally thrown into the back of an empty van, but he was laughing about the jokes and growls by the time he landed. Petty Officer First Class Carran from the first floor was also thrown into the van and slid to crash into Tiner. The doors were slammed shut like they were criminal captives, but the two were already teary eyed with anxiety and laughter. A voice curled so high pitched from the back of the van, it was hard to know which one it was, " we're gonna die."

The Young brothers fought like cats and dogs about who was going to drive and Gunny easily ordered them to just 'get the fuck in the car'. Another small group of Chiefs piled into the bed of somebody else's truck like a Frat party and the whole crew sang loud and laughing to the tune of My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean.

_My father sells cheap prophylactics!_

_My mother pricks them with a pin!_

_My sister sells out her own breast milk!_

_My god how the money rolls in!_

The same thought crossed everyone's mind as the caravan squealed away. 

'It's too bad the Admiral had to miss this.'

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Tiner had trouble getting all the blueberry jam out of his hair. It had stained his brown curls to a dark purple in places. The brand new hat would cover it on his way in, but while inside it would be fairly obvious. Tiner didn't mind though. He flopped the cover on his head by its black bill, made sure his tie was straight, and climbed out of his car slowly. He was sore and bruised, but still grinning a little about the whole thing. Nothing the officers could say or do to him today would hold a candle to what the Chief's did to him. 

There were three new words that just the mention of them made his stomach turn: KY jelly, chickens, and creamed corn. 

And they say crossing the line is bad.

Tiner got there before everyone else did, like a yeoman was supposed to, and put down his new, black billed, white cover with a fat gold anchor on the front. Someone had picked up the stuff from the floor, but it was still out of order. He opened The Mahogany Door to verify Rabb wasn't in there yet, moved around to sit down at his desk and started putting things back where they were supposed to be.

There was no big applause or standing ovation, but everyone managed to stop by one by one to congratulate him and suddenly, Tiner was no longer known as 'Tiner'. His first name was 'Chief' now. Even Rabb smiled and shook his hand when he showed up, "so you're the Chief come to take over Tiner's job. Welcome aboard."

"Thank you, sir." Tiner said casually, picked up the schedule, and moved into the office behind him to rattle off morning pass-down to him. 

The Admiral's plane touched down at 10:30 at Reagan Airport and Chief Tiner was released to go alone to pick up the Admiral. They'd done this so many times that Tiner and the Admiral had a spot on the curb already picked out for them to meet. The Admiral didn't mind walking out of his way. It was worth always knowing where to meet his ride without having to have a discussion about it.

So Tiner stood by the passenger door of the car with his feet shoulder-width, his arms crossed at his chest and his back so straight it almost bowed backwards. He watched the Admiral come out of the terminal from under the black bill and managed to keep his mouth closed while beamed proud as punch as the man stepped forward.

He came to attention at the last minute and saluted with an eccentric flick of his wrist. The Admiral stopped directly in front of him, set his feet shoulder-width, and clasped his wrist in front of him, letting the briefcase hang to his knees. 

The O8 looked over his nose at the E7 and studied the new uniform. He looked Tiner up and down, leaned to the side to check out the half-circle added to his crow patch and angled head to make sure the tie was a nice tight knot.

When he felt he had let Tiner stand there in salute long enough to make his arm start going to sleep, he put his brief case down, came to attention and met his eyes to give him the same, long, proud as punch, salute back. 

It was all the congratulations the Admiral would give him. And all the congratulations that Tiner ever needed. 

When the Admiral dropped his salute, he quickly picked up his briefcase and opened the back door himself. "Let's go, Chief."

"Aye aye, sir." Tiner said easily, closed the door for the man, and hopped happily around the car to drive him home.


	5. The Ring

**The Ring Part 5**

It was just the two of them, Gary and Jason, all day long. Jason had taken him to the Air and Space museum that morning and Gary was all over that place as if were Disneyland. They had ice cream for lunch and Gary took note that he was being spoiled, accusing Jason of trying to buy him off. 

The kid started asking the burning questions then, and Jason did his best to answer them. "Because I'm in love with your mom… and I'm kind of getting attached to you and Skyler too." It was the only real explanation to any of it.

"Are you gonna marry her?"

Jason eyed his ice cream as he thought on that. "I'm thinking about it. But I can't do it without your permission."

"You haven't asked me for my permission," Gary pointed out.

Jason had it in his wallet today, just in case the subject came up. He asked Gary to hold his ice cream while he pulled it out. "Y'know how, in the Navy, you have to get permission from a bunch of people before you do something really important?"

Gary shrugged and looked at the little form Jason handed over. 

"It's called a Request Chit, and I thought, just for fun, I'd fill one out and get signatures from all the people that needed to approve it before I asked your mom to marry me."

Gary looked at it as he handed back Jason's ice cream. 

Jason pointed with his free hand. "See? There's Admiral Chegwidden's signature, that's my mom and my dad, that's your grampa, and that's Skyler's little scribble." He pointed to more. "That's my signature. You're grampa made me do it over so I could sign it as a Chief, and that spot on the top… that's where you get to sign it."

Gary looked the paper over and tried to eat his ice cream as he studied it. "Why is the Admiral's signature on it?"

Jason shrugged and grinned, "I just needed another signature to fill up the spaces. He was the best logical choice."

Gary studied the paper again, clearly not hurrying for a pen.

Jason studied the side of his face. "You're the big man on campus, Gary, the man of the house. I know I'm asking permission to take over that part of your job, but if you let me do it, you'll have time to be a kid more often."

"Did you practice that speech?" Gary said with a whine.

Jason smiled and nodded. "Yep."

Gary cracked a smile at his expression.

Jason took the chit from him, "you just let me know when you're ready to sign it, all right?"

Gary gave it back to him and nodded, thinking deeply about it all. "All right."

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  

Meredith tucked it deeper onto her finger and held it up to the air with a smile. The diamond sparkled in the restaurant's romantic lighting. She tried to pretend that she was still trying to decide, based on the beauty of the ring alone, but AJ was on the other side of the table, leaning over on his elbows and watching her from under his brows. He knew better.

She dropped her hands into her lap and batted her eyes at him. "It's lovely."

AJ gave her a deep nod of appreciation. 

"You really went all out didn't you?"

AJ sat up and pulled his shirt down at his waist. "It was an adventure." 

The waiter approached and offered desert. They turned him down, but Meredith handed over the ring box. "Can you throw this away please?"

The waiter nodded regally, set the small, velvet, deep red box on his tray, and carried it off.

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The day would go down in history as The Day The Admiral Proposed To Meredith, but the stories of Admiral Chegwidden going nuclear at Tiner was the part they would remember the most.

Tiner's face was still burning when he climbed into the car. They treated him like Gilligan. It was hard enough trying to scrounge respect from a room full of officers. To be ripped a new colon because some waiter screwed up on an issue that had nothing to do with law or national defense, made Tiner smolder on into the afternoon.

He didn't get away until after six and was so distracted when he drove home that he found himself nearly parking at the barracks before he realized he'd gone the wrong way. He grinned pathetically at himself as he shoved the truck in reverse and turned around to go home. The maneuver made him hit the bad end of the traffic and he was nearly two hours later than usual when he parked in front of the house.

Jodi and the kids had only been back a month and he'd been getting back by six like clockwork. His excuse was legitimate, but he had no alibi. He feared he would face the woman's wrath about it. He'd heard so many stories from friends and acquaintances, even the Admiral himself, about the ripping they got when they were late, even to the point of accusing the man of having an affair.

He realized then that he and Jodi had never been in a rip-roaring argument about anything, ever. This was good, but made him wonder if they would survive it when they did. Sooner or later, they needed to get through the hard part of being together. Tiner had just survived one of his worst days at work – the kind that make you consider an immediate transfer to Antarctica. If Jodi so much as looked at him funny, there were going to be fireworks. And here he was, two hours late.

He squared his shoulders when he opened the front door and forced himself to face it. At the other end of the room, Gary was clearing the table and Skyler was finishing his milk. Jodi poked her head out of the kitchen and flashed a smile, "I'll warm up a plate."

Jason put his cover on the little shelf above the coat rack. She actually went out and bought the thing so he'd have a high place to keep it that smudged little fingers couldn't reach. 

He moved to the table, and said hello to Gary and Skyler as he sat down. Skyler had a milk mustache and Gary was grumbling about having to do the dishes.

Jodi brought a plate of food and a glass of milk over to the table. Dinner was enchiladas, or, in his case, re-heated enchiladas, but they were just as good.

"What happened to you?" she asked as she set the plate down in front of him. "I was getting worried."

"I had a brain fart and drove to the barracks," he muttered, picking up his fork.

She patted his shoulder and chuckled a little before turning away. "Do you want the good news, or the good news first?" She moved to the tiny desk that wasn't big enough to be a desk but still managed to keep the official paperwork of running a household.

"The good news," he said with a shrug.

She brought over two letter folded pieces of paper. "The good news is that Meredith was right. A 3.9 does get you anywhere." She handed him the letter of acceptance to Howard University, where Meredith taught. "But, unfortunately two positives repel each other, because the other good news is that I got a job offer from C&P telephone as a CO technician."

He took the other paper and swallowed his bite. His eyes flicked up warily. "Full time?"

She nodded and sat down sideways in Gary's chair. "Yep." She pressed her mouth. "I'm gonna attend Howard part time. That way I can do both; pay the bills and go to school."

Jason gave her back the papers and cut out another bite. 

"Besides, C&P offers medical insurance. The boys and I haven't been covered since we left California."

"Go to school," he said, "if you only go part time it'll take you years before you graduate."

Her chin shifted. "I can't afford it, Jason. You're already helping too much."

He lifted his face with insult. "I live here!"

"Yeah but-" she stopped herself short when she realized Skyler was still sitting at the table. Gary came out for the last of the silverware and glasses. Jodi folded her lips closed and looked at Jason again.

He lowered his chin, nodded, and scowled over his meal as he finished it.

An hour later, the boys were in their beds and listening wide eyed in the darkness to the two of them tumble into their first real fight.

"I did what you wanted, dammit!" She yelled with the force of singing cadence in her lungs. "I moved out here without any commitment from you!"  

"This isn't about commitment!" he yelled back. "This is about your career. If you take that job, you know you're going to hate it and you know it's gonna take you forever to graduate! And don't try to tell me that going back into electronics isn't going to push you into moving back home!"

"Is that what you're afraid of? That if I get a job I'm going to leave?"

"I know it'll happen. You had a good thing going in California. If you go part time to school and take that job, you're gonna end up back in the same place." He winced and waved his hands. "Jesus Jodi, you hated electronics when they were teaching it to you in A school. Don't you remember that?"

"That's not in my control, Jason! What I want out of life is the absolute lowest priority. My job is to take care of my children - with or without you. And as long as I'm doing it without you; I'm gonna make decisions by myself and make them so that they benefit them. Not me, not you. _Them_."

"But it makes you miserable," he argued frantically.

She balled her fists and screamed. "You don't even know what I want out of life!"

He thought on that a long, quiet minute. "So what do you want out of life?"

"I want you. I want to teach. I want to have friends… and a normal life with normal problems and want you to lean on when things get crazy." She sniffed, "I always have." 

"You have me," he whispered.

She sniffed again. She didn't look at him.

"That's not enough. Is it?"

She looked over. "I don't want to pressure you, Jas. I really don't. I can't imagine how scary it must be for you...  but until you're ready, I still have a family to take care of by myself."

"You forgot that I am required to get approval from Skyler and Gary before I ask you." He chewed on his lower lip. "Until I get it, it's not in my control."

She hitched a new grin. "Oh come on. You wouldn't be ready right now if you had it. I saw the look on your face yesterday when Skyler unrolled all the toilet paper in the bathroom and soaked it with Windex."

Jason suddenly chuckled about yesterday, but his smile calmed. "You don't know that, Jodi."

She leaned into him and pressed her cheek on his shoulder. "No, you're right, I don't. Until I do though, I have to go on the assumption that you're just visiting."

He looked over at her. She lifted her brows. It was the hard cold truth. He looked at the floor again, angling his head to the side in thought, he sat up a little, chewed on his lower lip again, and pulled his wallet out. "I want to show you something."

She sat up and away to let him do what ever he was going to do, and he ended up turning to her on the couch. He pulled out the request chit and handed it to her, folded.

"What's this?"

"Look at it."

Uncertain, she unfolded it and immediately recognized the form, but Skyler's scribbled name jumped out at her first. She read the request. Her mouth opened. Her eyes flicked up to him and then looked down at it again. The Admiral, her father, his parents, and Skyler had all signed it already. All he needed was Gary's, and the space was still empty, smack dab on the top… the final say.

"I wanted to show you over a candle lit dinner or something, but," he sighed and shook his head at his knee. He looked at the hallway and back at her defeated, "I can't get him to sign it, and you're right, I'm not going to ask you to marry me until Gary says it's okay… He's protecting you and I'm gonna let him protect you as long as he needs to."

She started backing away from her position, wanting it more than she realized, "he's only ten, Jason."

"Yeah, I know, but he's also the man of the house. He's gotta be willing to step down before I step up. I'm not going to do a hostile take over." He smiled at the term.

She looked at the chit, "this is dated April."

He nodded, "I've been working on it since you brought your stuff out."

She stood on her knees and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She buried her face in his neck and whispered through happy tears. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he cuddled back. "But please go to school. Gary's not ready for it, but I am - and he doesn't need to know how much I'm taking care of you." 

She winced in his shoulder. He wasn't thinking about medical insurance.

He pulled his face back and looked her in the eye. "Please?"

Her brows were slanted again. She still couldn't do it; she still had the boys to take care of and she couldn't do that and go to school full time. There was no way. The logistics just didn't work.

"Mom?"

They both looked over. Gary was standing at the hallway in his boxers and looking at them like a sad and scared little kid. 

She forced a smile, "hey bud, I thought you guys were asleep."

"Skyler's crying," he said quietly.

Jodi got up and moved to the hallway. "Thank you, sweetie. I'm sorry about this." She moved into their dark bedroom and cuddled Skyler in her arms, comforting him with soft coos.

Gary's face turned back to Jason across the living room. "We heard everything."

Jason closed his mouth and pressed it, apologizing with his expression yet not bothered by what he heard. It was best that Gary figured out Jason's commitment that way anyway.

Gary stepped over and tightened his face to look as mean as possible. "You have to promise you're never going to hit us."

Jason wasn't sure why that came up, but nodded. "No problem. I can promise that easy."

"And you have to promise you're not going to spend all mom's money when she gets a job."

Jason started to understand why these were coming up. There was a short marriage that produced mistrust, near bankruptcy, a report at the Child Protection Office, and Skyler not too terribly long ago. "I promise that too."

Gary sat down on the couch, "and promise that you're not going to hit mom either. She'd knock you silly if you do, but I don't want you to hit her anyway."

Jason actually smiled about that. "I promise I won't hit her either. I'm not like that, Gary."

Gary's eyes narrowed at the air as he tried to think of anything else to make him promise.

Jason pulled the chit over on the couch and handed it to Gary. 

Gary took it, looked at it, and thought hard about it. 

Jason fetched a pen from the end table and handed it over. "I've never been a dad before, and I've never been a husband before, but I promise I will pay attention and learn to do the job right."

Gary thoughtfully took the pen, and his eyes flicked fearfully to Jason when he did. 

Jason shook his head. "I also promise that no one is more scared about this than I am. I'm gonna need your help to get through it."

"Why me?"

"I've never been a man of the house before."

Gary took the pen and moved to his knees in front of the coffee table. He put the chit down and put the pen to it. 

Jason's eyes flicked to Jodi in the hallway. She had Skyler on her hip, but paused to watch Gary bite his tongue and work hard to sign his name in cursive. He sat back, looked at his name, and handed it back to Jason.

Jason smiled at him and said it sincerely. "Thank you."

Gary climbed to his feet and faced him. "What happens now?"

Jason folded the chit over once and his eyes moved back to Jodi.

Gary turned to his mother, now noticing her. Skyler sniffed and put his head on his mom's shoulder, but Jodi was staring at Jason, caught with the ball in her court for the first time since they'd found each other again.

"I'll show you." Jason said suddenly and climbed off the couch. He slid passed Jodi and into the bedroom. Jodi started to follow him but saw him pulling the gun lock box from under the bed. 

Her eyes popped out of her head. "What are you doing?!"

"Get the kids out of here," he said as he pulled up her car keys from the nightstand. Hiding the ring in the lock box was the perfect place because she hadn't needed anything else in there for almost nine months now.

She stepped back in the hallway and moved to the couch. 

"What's he doing?" Gary asked.

She shook her head. "I have no idea."

Jason came out a few seconds later with a strange smile on his lips. Skyler was in her lap, Gary sat next to her and Jason sat down on the coffee table in front of her. 

Screw the candle lit dinner. This couldn't wait any longer. "I have the approval from the man of the house, the little man of the house, all the in-laws, and the Judge Advocate General of the United States Navy…. So, you can't say no."

He brought up the ring box already opened. The jewel inside had three small diamonds, one for her and one each for the kids. It sparkled against the velvet, but not in her eyes. She wasn't looking at the ring.

"Because you'd have a lot of people to explain yourself to."

Skyler reached for it. "A sparkly!"

Jason brought it closer so the little one could look at it, but gently kept the little hands from pulling it out. He showed Gary too, who looked at it with eyes that were still a little scared. Then Jason took it out of the box and pulled her hand over whether she liked it or not.

She sniffed a little and let him put it on, then wiped her eye and rubbed her lips. She reached for his face and pulled him in and he stood on his knees to kiss her lightly. Skyler kissed his cheek and Gary watched the whole thing from the side until his mother pulled him into her other arm. Gary groaned about it, but the four ended up hugging each other for a long minute. Jodi and Jason looked into each other's eyes, nose to nose, until she smiled.

His eyes were as blue and as bright as the sunshine on the pond in Orlando. Skyler reached over and stuck his nose in too, giggling at all the pressed cheeks. Gary started to smile, grabbed the ring box off the coffee table, and stuck his face in to complete the square. All four blushed and giggled in fear and excitement until Gary lifted box in the middle of all the chins. "Can I keep the box?"

Jodi looked down at the gray velvet box and approved the request. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  

The fast, summer air was warm on their smiling cheeks. Mac wasn't really worried, but she closed her eyes behind the goggles and grabbed a hold of the panic bar anyway. In the aft seat of _Sarah_, Harm rolled the yellow bi-plane into a loop and left them hanging up side down.

Mac peaked open and eye and saw nothing but trees and hills. She scolded through the racing air. "HARM!" She grabbed the edge of her little cockpit and checked her straps one more time.

Harm chuckled evilly and rolled the plane back over, leaving Mac's equilibrium spinning a bit, and started to descend the plane until they were nearly skipping on treetops.

Mac still saw nothing but trees over the soft ripples of hills. She saw no towns, no roads, no meadows, and most importantly, no landing strip. A wheel scraped across a tall pine tree and left the top tip waving in the wind behind them. "Harm?"

She turned around to see the expression on his face. If he were having trouble with the plane, he wouldn't admit it right away, but she would be able to see it in his eyes. The plane's buzzing little engine was purring fine and Harm, though no longer smiling, was eyeballing for something over the side, cool as a cucumber.

"Are we landing?" She asked and looked out over the side of the plane. The trees covered the hills like a thick fur.

"Yep!" He called back and pulled up just enough to get over the next hill.

"_Where_?!" Mac yelled as her nerves frazzled a smidgen more. Just then, he started to descend again, scraping across the trees until they dove softly into a giant, meadow covered in wild yellow flowers.

She dropped her head hard on the seat behind her with a grunt. 

Harm only chuckled as he gently landed the plane. The wheels crushed two long lines in the grass and daisies. He came to an easy stop in the middle of the meadow.

The plane settled and rattled as it quieted for sleep and Mac was already jumping down to the ground. She looked around for some clue at why they'd landed there, and met him as he finally climbed down too. "What are we doing here?"

Harm stripped his hat and goggles and took hers from her as well so he could put them away. "I want to show you something." He said with a smooth, low voice like he had sex on the brain. He sucked at his lower lip as he closed the plane down and retrieved a thin set of keys to stuff in his bomber jacket. His long-legged stride took him quickly away from the plane. He glanced back at her, "Come on."

Mac skipped into a trot until she caught up with him. "What are you going to show me?"

"It's a surprise," he smiled, just so he wouldn't have to answer her and start the battering of questions. The building was coming into view between the trees anyway.

As soon as they moved from the sunny meadow to the shadow of the thick trees, Mac could see a large log cabin, falling apart and empty. There was a dirt road off to the right that probably met a paved one a mile away, but there were no cars parked in front of the two-story house. 

The birds sang loudly through the canopy overhead. Ancient oaks and tall aspens shaded the sunshine to fuzzy dots on the ground. The breeze blew through the branches only to magnify the absolute absence of city noise.

Mac stepped into the front yard. It was simply a pocket in the trees with soft deer grass and a fat, gnarling oak reaching out from in the center. It was the perfect climbing tree, and clearly, someone had already discovered that. There were traces of a tree house high in its branches and, from another thick, high branch, an old tire hung from a long, rotting rope. In the large empty space between them and the house sat a crooked, home-made picnic table.

Harm had stopped at the edge of the clearing to watch her reaction. Mac looked up into the trees and turned slowly around with her arms out and her mouth open to a smile like her dream childhood was filling her head. Harm smiled wistfully and stepped carefully to her. 

"You can almost hear children laughing," she whispered into the breeze. Like an echo, the bright, innocent giggles of children danced through the air.

"Come see the inside," his voice came out in nearly a whisper by accident. He took her hand and led the way up the wooden porch. The center cut logs were worn away and dark with age, but the steps were still incredibly sturdy. Hiking boots clunked quietly to the front door and Harm released her hand so he could work the realtor's safe-lock open. 

Mac looked out from the porch. She could see through the trees to the entire yellow and green meadow. The biplane was in plain view. And the ghosts of children skipped through the grass and flowers around it. 

The door creaked as it opened. "It needs a lot of work," he admitted quietly. "But the frame is sturdy." He stepped into the front room and glanced back to her. 

The place seemed to be entirely made of dark wood. The air smelled of dust. The plank floors were dusty and bare. The log cabin walls had once been covered by drywall but were now ripped and torn with whole sections missing in places. A kitchen filled up the front corner to the right. The glass-framed cabinets were mostly smashed, and the tile on the counter was loose and shuffled. 

To the left was the living room, but there was nothing in it. There was a stone hearth shooting a fireplace right up the middle of the house, and two doors placed on the walls on either side of it. At the far left was a stair way to the second floor… The children shouted at each other as they jumped down the stairs, ran through the house and scurried around her legs to go play outside….

Mac blinked and woke up again. Harm studied her to make sure she was okay and grinned a little about her reaction. He stepped to the back of the house and waved her over to show her the rooms that made up the other side. "This could be a den," he said, showing her a room that could have easily been a bedroom too. He stepped passed the stone hearth to show her the other door.

"This is the bathroom," but you could only tell that by the naked pipes jutting out from the walls and floors. The bathroom was as big as the den with big windows lining up the corners.

Mac stared into the bathroom, but didn't see the pipes and naked floors. She saw a clean white Victorian bathtub, a stand-alone sink, a large fluffy throw rug, and a dozen green potted plants and trees. She heard a squeal and saw a twelve-year-old girl in the bathtub scrambling for a towel without emerging from the bubbles. "MOM!" 

Mac gasped a little and stepped out.

"Are you all right?" Harm's face was mildly concerned. 

Mac took a deep breath and looked him in the eye to nod. Something about this place was really digging into her mind, but all the emotions it left behind were good. Standing in this house felt like wrapping up in you favorite blanket: warm, peaceful, happy, and comfortable. "What's upstairs?"

Harm grinned and took her hand again to move up the stairs with her. The hall upstairs was nothing but a railing that looked over the living room and broken only by the stone chimney that disappeared through the ceiling. The first two bedrooms were small. One had pealing lavender paint on the drywall and a single window. The carpet was stripped away to the floor, but the wood was sturdy… and Mac saw a girl in a fluffy bed gossiping with a friend on the phone…. 

She weaved her fingers into his like he was the anchor that kept her in reality. Harm didn't seem to mind and opened the door to the other bedroom. This one was just as empty as the rest, and the pale blue paint was in the same ratty condition… but Mac saw a set of bunk beds and two young, raven-haired boys attacking each other with toy planes….

Mac's face moved to Harm, "Who lived here before?"

Harm kept a soft but firm grip on her hand as he opened the door at the end of the hall. This room was clearly larger and made the only part of the upstairs that created a real wall to loom over the kitchen. "The realtor said that the last owner died in a retirement home with no close relatives." He grinned as he struggled to get the crooked door to open. "I gathered some distant nephew on the west coast is waiting for the unexpected inheritance from this house." He managed to shove the door open. It scraped deeper in the floor where it had already been carving for years. 

Mac paused before going into the room. "There were no children here?"

Harm angled his head at the curious question. He put one hand on his hip while the other rested with a locked elbow on the discolored brass doorknob. "Not that I know of… but I have half a mind to put children in it." 

He expected some sort of reaction out of that, but she stepped into the master bedroom before she realized all that he'd said. Her voice was surprised. "Did you buy this place?"

"Not yet-" he was going to say more, padding his dreamy intentions with reality, and try to point out that he didn't have any expectations who the little wifey was going to be, but his words stopped when he saw Mac. True concern crossed his face now.

Mac stopped just on the other side of the door and went wide-eyed at what she saw. The truth was there was nothing in the room - not a chair, not a bed, not even a lamp. But Mac clearly saw something else. Like transparent ghosts, there was a bedroom full of furniture, and glowing with soft light at night. Two naked bodies were on bed completely engulfed with making love. Her own voice giggled into the back of her mind, "Harm, stop. That tickles."

Mac stepped backwards out of the room, bumped against the door jam, and slammed her back against the wall in the hallway. Her palms were in front of her, and her mouth was agape. 

Harm stepped out of the room and ducked his face to look her in the eye. He was truly concerned now. "What's the matter, Mac?"

Mac winced a little, tried to grin, and flushed. "Do you ever…see things?" Her face rippled at the way that must've sounded, despite her previous visions. This was totally different.

Harm's chin rocked a little and his breath hung in his neck. He cleared his throat. "Only when I bump my head." He rested a hand on the railing and grinned at this. "What did you see?"

Mac smiled open teeth at him as she considered, then chucked the idea and pealed off the wall. "I have to get out of this house."

Harm blinked and followed her. "Mac?" She ran quickly down the stairs and Harm faster than Harm could move his long legs around the corner. Then she jumped into a run to get out of the house and Harm jumped into a run to follow her. "Mac!?"

When she got out to the front yard again, she slowed her feet and took a deep breath of fresh, sweet air. She turned around, already trying to calm his worries with her palms. "It was just a little too weird in there."

Harm lifted his brows at her, stepping up to her close enough to grab her if he had to, and gave her a look of caution. 

"I'm okay." She nodded at him and backed away a little. Her back bumped blindly into the tire. "Really."

His hands were on his hips and his head was still angled, paused and worried.

Mac turned to the tire and lifted herself to sit in it. She wrapped her arms around the top part of the tire and swung her legs with a childish smile.

Harm grinned strangely at this, backed up to the picnic table and sat on top of it. "Talk to me, Mac." He placed his feet on the bench and set his elbows on his knees. "What happened in there?"

"Nothing," she said and started to swing, just to keep from looking him in the eye.

Harm looked at the house and looked back at her. "No," he grinned, "I know something's going on in that wild little mind of yours."

She challenged him from behind the rope, "How?"

He pointed out with a grin and sat up, "Because you haven't asked me why I'm thinking of buying the place."

Her fingers wrapped around the rope. She stared at him like she was painted into a corner as the tire slowly swung to hang still. There was a long minute of whispering wind and the echoes of laughing children. She could feel it in his stare that his mind was made up about something… but it wasn't the house.

"So…" she started carefully and splashed an embarrassed smile. "Why are you thinking of buying the place?"

A new smile blossomed across his face. He looked around as he said it. "I like the place because it's away from everything." He explained easily. "It's on ten acres, the meadow included." He waved a hand at _Sarah's_ new playground. "And since the airfield is only ten minutes from work…" he shrugged.

She was caught him from his easy side-step. "Why are you thinking of buying _any_ place?"

His head angled a little to look at her from under his brows and lick a careful grin. "What did you see in there?"

Her face paled a moment. It was supposed to be a trade of information. 

Harm climbed off the picnic table and casually strolled to the tire. "Can I give that thing a try?"

She snicked a noise out of her nose and climbed off the tire. He bit his lower lip as he grabbed hold of the rope, pulled himself up and threaded his legs into the circle. "Come on," he waved a hand as he adjusted. "There's room for two."

Mac lifted a brow for a moment but acquiesced softly, "All right." She took a hold of the rope with both hands and clumsily threaded her legs through as well until she was straddling his lap, but looked at him from the other side of the upper half of the tire.

He waited until she was settled before he leaned back, holding on to the sides of the tire as he swung them slowly into motion. "So, what did you see?"

"I asked you first."

He smiled at that and swung them to rock a little more in the air. "You know why." The tire gently spun on the rope. 

Her voice was warm and smooth, "Then you know what I saw."

His tongue played with his canine as he watched her eyes. "Y'know, I can fix up a place pretty well," he said too casually, "But this place," he looked back at it and smacked his tight teeth. "It's a lot of work. I'm gonna need a whole team."

She nodded with understanding and tried not to let the buzz show in her face. She held onto the rope with both hands and leaned forward, almost resting her chin on the tire itself. "And who do you think is going to breed this team for you?"

He pulled his chest to the tire and looked over it at her with a cocked head and a curious curl of his brow. "How old is little A.J. again?"

Her breath caught with a smile. Her heart thudded and her stomach flipped. She took a tighter grip on the rope in front of her nose and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down before he yanked her sanity right out of her soul.

Somewhere in the breeze, her own voice spoke softly to a cooing, pudgy-cheeked toddler, Hammer the Third, _"You're daddy proposed to me right on that tire?"_

Mac's eyes flung open. Her full mouth fell to breathe. She looked at his glittering blue eyes and his devious grin and they way his dark hair fluttered in the breeze. She opened her mouth to speak, but forgot what she was going to say.

Harm brought it up from his pocket while her eyes were closed. He had a firm grip on the tire with his left hand, but brought his right hand to set it in front of her face. It sparkled like a thousand stars and reflected tiny prisms on her face. It wasn't incredibly big, but it was clear and white, marquis cut in the center with a few more ornamenting the stone on the sides. 

It was the most beautiful thing Mac had ever seen, but only because of the man that was bearing it.

Her eyes flicked back to him. It could have been a band-aid and she would have melted at the offer.

He closed his mouth and pulled himself closer. He wrapped his arms around the sides of the tire to hold himself up with the strength of his forearms and still have use of both hands. He gently unwrapped her left hand from the rope.

Mac exhaled a terrified smile as he slid it on her finger. "Are you serious?"

His black brows lifted. He pointed at the stone on her finger. "Does this look like I'm joking?"

She tittered, feeling sixteen all over again, and looked starry eyed at the man that just took Sarah Mackenzie permanently off the market without even asking her first.

As he realized he succeeded, he fully bit his lower lip, leaned far back from the tire, and got them swinging again. 

Children's laughter still giggled in the air as the wind whistled softly through the trees. The birds sang and twiddled and chirped. The tire swung back and forth and spun in soft circles, and she was still straddling his warm lap. 

She tucked the ring onto her finger so it wouldn't fall off and grabbed a hold of the tire. She leaned back and forward in concert with him and let her eyes shine as brightly and as deviously as his were.

"It that a 'yes'?" He asked as he leaned forward, but he leaned back again.

"Yes to what?" She taunted as she leaned forward. "You didn't ask me anything."

"What on earth do you think it's for?" _Swing_.

"I thought it was a birthday present." _Swing_.

He bubbled a chuckle and pointed out, "You're birthday isn't for another six months."

She raised a brow to taunt him, "Fourth of July gift, then?"

He chuckled a little and leaned forward, but stayed there. His face tucked around the rope at her. She sat up too, facing him down with a challenging eyebrow, and watched to enjoy his face shuffle in fear or flicker with uncertainty. For all those years he danced around her, staying close but still too far away, she wasn't going to make this easy for him.

Harmon Rabb, however, had already made up his mind about it. He was going to spend the rest of his life with her whether she liked it or not. It would just make life a whole lot easier if she thought she had a say in the decision.

He didn't flicker with uncertainty. His eyes didn't try to look away. He simply reached another inch to her mouth and let his breath brush across her lips, "Marry me, Sarah."

Her eyes fell closed before she realized it. She reached for his mouth until he kissed her. Harm took her mouth in soft, tender waves. He was so leaned toward her that hands could fall to her knees and pulled to make her straddle him tighter. 

Mac inhaled a breath through her nose as the intensity cranked up a few notches. She whispered blindly, "yes," between kisses, and "yes," again when turned his head to kiss her from another angle, "yes…"

"Make love to me?" he whispered into her mouth as he took it again.

"Yes," she said when he came up for air. She tried to wrap her arms around his shoulders, but the tire was preventing them from getting any closer. His hands had moved to her hips by then and grabbed her with firm fingers to press her closer. He tried to kiss her neck… damn tire.

He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes for a moment. He didn't want to move away to get out of the tire, he just wanted to get closer. 

Her hands reached for the rope above their heads and the ring glittered against her skin. He let her go so she could climb out and looked up as she lifted her body off of him.

There was a short groan and a loud *crack*. The old rope parted and the tire fell with them in it. Harm's ass was protected a little by the tired beneath him. Mac had gotten her legs mostly out, but not completely. They only fell four feet, but it was enough of bump to make both of them go wide-eyed in panic. 

Mac tumbled away and rolled once until she sat up with her hands in the grass behind her. Harm sat there in the up right tire until he started to breath again.

Mac threw her head back and laughed about it. Harm dropped his forehead to the tire and chuckled. He pulled his long legs from the broken swing and crawled to her on his hands and knees, watching her giggle madly in the grass as he silently approached. Harm quickly overtook her and flattened himself on her, playfully pinning her to the ground as she continued to laugh. 

She didn't stop until he kissed her neck. She sucked in a long, clean breath. He pressed his body against hers and curled her knee around his hip. He made gentle and desperate love to her right there in the grass, under the trees and twittering birds, and from the picnic table, the silent, empty, and satisfied dark blue velvet ring box.


End file.
